The two heavyweight British stars have been tipped to face each other this year, and a former boxing world champion has weighed in on the potential blockbuster clash
Former boxing world champion Barry Jones believes Tyson Fury would be a big favourite against Anthony Joshua amid talks of a potential heavyweight showdown this year.
Fury suffered the second defeat of his professional career against Oleksandr Usyk last month. The two stars first went glove-to-glove back in May, with the Ukrainian going on to score a tight split-decision victory in Riyadh. Seven months later, the pair would clash once again.
Desperate to exact his revenge, the ‘Gypsy King’ started the contest on the front foot, finding a home with his sharp jabs and solid shots to the body. However, momentum shifted just before the midway point as Usyk’s speed allowed him to control the rest of the fight. Eventually, ‘The Cat’ got his hand raised once again – winning via unanimous decision.
As for Joshua, the two-time world champion was brutally knocked out by rival Daniel Dubois in his last fight back in September. Many within the boxing community are now calling for an all-British heavyweight showdown between Fury and ‘AJ’. Amid talks of a potential clash later this year, Jones has weighed in and offered his verdict on the dust-up.
“Fury is a massive favourite but I think in general he was always a slight favourite [against Joshua],” Jones told the 5 Live Boxing with Steve Bunce podcast. “He’ll want the Joshua fight because he’s almost beaten every fighter of his generation. It might be a different Joshua but it’s a different Fury. I think to get Joshua on his record in years to come will show how good he is.”
Bunce himself was quick to share his thoughts and insists another defeat would be a huge blow to either fighter. “The loser has a massive amount to lose,” he said. Fury can lose to Usyk again no problem, Joshua can lose to Dubois again no problem. I just think this is a monumental fight, the loser of that drops a lot of ground pride-wise.”
Fury’s promoter Frank Warren recently revealed he’s yet to talk to his client about a potential showdown with Joshua. The 72-year-old wrote in his Daily Star column: “I will not be picking up the phone and asking Tyson Fury to fight again. If opportunities come my way for him they will be passed on, but there will be no advice from me on whether or not Tyson should take them. I haven’t spoken to him yet about an Anthony Joshua fight and I will only do so if he comes to me and says he wants to get in the ring with him.”
Eddie Hearn, like many, is desperate to make that fight happen. “I don’t think it’s time to start screaming, this night is Usyk vs Fury, but the reality is there’s only one fight for Tyson Fury and that’s Anthony Joshua,” Hearn told DAZN after Fury’s rematch with Usyk. “It’s the biggest fight probably in the history of British boxing, everyone will always want to see it. And by the way, that wasn’t a Tyson Fury that looked finished, it wasn’t a flat performance, it wasn’t a poor performance, he didn’t look gun-shy, he didn’t look like his punch resistance was in question like we talked about earlier.
“I think Tyson Fury is still potentially at the peak of his powers, just not good enough to be Oleksandr Usyk tonight. But for me, AJ against Fury is the one, it’s the one at Wembley, I’m going to be pushing His Excellency [Turki Alalshikh] to make the fight, but that’s maybe one for another day, tonight belongs to Oleksandr Usyk. But Fury will struggle with this, I think. All fighters do, AJ struggled with the Dubois defeat as well, you’re a winner and when you get beat it hurts and this will hurt Fury.”
